Archeology, Architecture, Augustus
Tweet In front of the Porta Maggiore, of which I wrote in my last post, is the tomb of an Augustan era bread magnate. Built about 30 BCE, on the cusp of Republic and Empire, it predates the aqueduct (of which the Porta Maggiore is part) by eighty years. The master...
Off the beaten track, Rome, Rus in urbe
Tweet “The English burying-place is a green slope near the walls, under the pyramidal tomb of Cestius, and, as I think, the most beautiful and solemn cemetery I have ever beheld.” (Percy Bysshe Shelley) Nestling between Monte Testaccio, Rome’s ancient...
Archeology, Architecture, Out of Town, Undervisited Rome museums
Tweet Once having found the Wall I could not forget it, or be unaware of its continuity. Its reemergences into view, out of covering buildings, never are not dramatic: whether in view or not it is there, and shapes one’s sense of the city. – Elizabeth...
Archeology, Heart of Ancient Rome tour
Tweet When showing people around Rome I think it’s important to mention how we know what we do (& indeed whether that information can be trusted). I can tell you that the Colosseum was inaugurated with 100 consecutive days of games, or that a 120 ft statue...
Archeology, Heart of Ancient Rome tour
Tweet The day before yesterday was Rome’s 2769th birthday. Legend says the city was founded on the 21st April, 753 BCE. Which is extremely specific for a legend. I always feel one could add “at about half past three in the afternoon”. Forgive me...
Renaissance, Vatican, Vatican Tour
Tweet One wall of the Gallery of the Tapestries in the Vatican Museums is lined with wool tapestries telling stories from the life of Christ. They were woven in Brussels at the workshop of Pieter van Aelst in the early 16th century. Roman in design (they are the work...
Art History, Early Renaissance, Out of Town
Tweet At the heart of Federico’s Palace at Urbino, of which I spoke in my last post, was his studiolo, a tiny inner sanctum for study and reflection, and a place which served to advertise his erudition to visitors. Created by 1476, its lower level is clad...
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